The 86 year old mother of Rawalpora chemist, whose funeral in absentia was held on Tuesday exactly fourteen years after he went missing, died on Thursday.Zeba Banoo according to family members had almost lost her eyesight waiting for her son Manzoor Ahmed Dar from past 14 years.Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a chemist, was picked up from his home at Rawalpora by unidentified gunmen on intervening night of January 18/19 in 2002. Following massive protests, police station Saddar here filed an FIR under section 364 (abduction) against Army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles. Subsequently, during the investigation, the name of Major Kishore Malhotra (now brigadier) surfaced as an accused.On November 26 last year, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the custodial disappearance of Manzoor closed the investigation in the case. It concluded that the victim could have died in custody of Army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles led by Major Kishore Malhotra after he was abducted from his residence in January 2002 and his body could have been disposed of.“The custodial disappearance has occurred nearly about 14 years ago which clearly indicates that the disappeared person could have died in custody of 35 RR and accordingly section 302 (murder) of RPC is invoked,” reads the status report filed by the SIT in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.“On Tuesday when funeral prayers in absentia was held, she (Zeba Banoo) urged us to take to the spot where people had gathered for prayers. Keeping her ailing health in view, we did not oblige. Her health deteriorated after the culmination of funeral prayers and she repeatedly kept us saying that she will go to meet her son,” Bilkees Manzoor, daughter of the chemist, told CNS. The deceased was laid to rest at her ancestral graveyard in Rawalpora. (CNS)